Oklahoma senator apologizes for undermining Black voters
James Lankford has also decided to vote in favor of convicting President Donald Trump during the impeachment trials
Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma issued an apology to Black voters on Thursday due to his decision to discredit President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump.
According to The New York Times, Lankford said he didn’t realize that his actions would be interpreted as undermining the voting rights of people of color, who turned out in record numbers for the 2020 presidential election.
In a letter to his “friends in North Tulsla,” a predominantly Black community, Lankford acknowledged his stance in objecting Biden’s victory during the certification of electoral votes on Jan. 6. Lankford said that his stance “caused a firestorm of suspicion among many of my friends, particularly in Black communities around the state. I was completely blindsided, but I also found a blind spot.”
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“What I did not realize was all of the national conversation about states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, was seen as casting doubt on the validity of votes coming out of predominantly Black communities like Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Detroit,” Lankford said in the later.
He added, “After decades of fighting for voting rights, many Black friends in Oklahoma saw this a direct attack on their right to vote, for their vote to matter, and even a belief that their votes made an election in our country illegitimate.”
Lankford is looking at a possible re-election campaign in 2022 in Oklahoma. He has also decided to vote in favor of convicting President Trump for “incitement of insurrection,” during the impeachment trials.
American author Don Winslow called Lankford a racist, tweeting, “Too little too late. @SenatorLankford is a pig and a racist. No walking this back. Not now. Not ever. And especially not when you try to get re-elected.”
Read More: Majority of voters ready for Republican Party to move on from Trump, CNN poll finds
Political reporter Eugene Scott quoted Senator George Young who called Lankford, “‘a nice man,’ in ‘the same way that many White men blind to race matters are nice.’”
Twitter user Michael Baxter criticized Lankford, saying he made an attempt to contact his office. “I personally called @SenatorLankford‘s office on Monday, January 4th & discussed the attack on votes from Black communities. I had also called several times in December stating that same thing. @jameslankford knew what he was doing, he is upset he is being called out for it,” said the user.
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